It’s a new year which means it is the perfect time to both take a look back and reflect on the last year and plan out the year ahead. Ask yourself if you accomplished everything you hoped to this past year. Hopefully the answer is “no.” Not because I want you to do badly, I’m not usually that mean. Rather I believe that writers should have so many plans and dreams that it would be impossible to have everything.

Either way, get out your pen and paper (or computer for you younglings) and prepare to start this year off right by writing down what you hope to get out of your writing career in the months to come. Here are some of the resolutions off my list, feel free to post your own in the comments. Good Luck and Happy New Year!

Finish at least three books, including one novel.

Stick to my schedule of writing at least five days a week, regularly.

Practice making ebook covers.

Work on editing my manuscripts in a timely manner (I usually despise editing).

Make it interesting – Just because it happened doesn’t mean it must be told. Remember that your memories will always mean more to you than to other people.

Write your memoir in the first person – It’s about you after all. Using I, my, me, etc. is acceptable.

Tell the bad – A perfect life is impossible. It is our faults and failings that bring us together and make life interesting.

Be yourself – Try to stay as true to your own voice as possible.

Distance yourself – This can help when writing about a traumatic experience, as well as helping you to see different perspectives of the event.

Use fiction writing techniques – Show, don’t tell, build suspense, learn to write good dialogue, make your setting a character, etc. This will help keep your readers entertained and help to make them more invested in a story.

Not every character is running around a world with convenient chemically created pills and drug stores on every corner. Before popping pills became common, and even now in many fantasy worlds, the best medicine for whatever may ail you came from the forests and fields. Here are some common herbs used in literature and real life. This list is for reference purposes only.

Chamomile – The flower heads can be used to help relieve indigestion, colic, anxiety, and skin inflammations.

Feverfew – The flowers and leaves of this plant can help with headaches and migraines, arthritis, and some skin conditions. Has also been used to treat tooth aches, insect bites, stomach aches and more.

Sage – This plant can be used to help with mouth and throat inflammations.

Comfrey – Treats bruises and sprains.

Yarrow – Helps reduce inflammation.

Barberry – Used to treat scurvy, skin and gastro-intestinal ailments.

Bilberry – This plant has been used at various times to prevent night blindness, treat stomach cramps, diabetes, and diarrhea, as well as varicose veins, hemorrhoids, and bruising.

Catnip – This herb isn’t just used to make cats tweak out, but also for coughs, bruises, restlessness, upset stomach, colic, colds, fever allergies, and sometimes as a mild sedative (at least for people).